Updated on June 20, 2022 by Ruth
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Small share: zucchini or yellow squash, cherry/grape tomatoes, lettuce, baby bok choy, green/yellow beans or fava beans, cucumbers, blueberries or raspberries, basil
Large share: English peas, collards, sorrel or garlic scraps, dill,zucchini or yellow squash, cherry/grape tomatoes, lettuce, baby bok choy, green/yellow beans or fava beans, cucumbers, blueberries or raspberries, basil
Fruit only: red or black raspberries, blueberries
Flower share: snapdragon, dahlias, lisianthus, rudbeckia
Tomatoes
Yay, tomatoes have started! You’ll be getting these all summer long.
Types of Tomatoes: You will see a variety of colors in our tomatoes – red, pink, orange, yellow, black, striped, and even green. They are all delicious and can be used interchangeably.
Cherry/Grape/Pear Tomatoes are tiny spheres of tomato goodness. Great for snacking, but also good roasted and in sauce.
Heirloom Tomatoes are old-time varieties that pack a lot of flavors into funky looking bodies. Their shape is less uniform and will often have wrinkles and sometimes even a nose sticking out. Heirloom tomatoes have thin skin, so you’ll want to use them up first as heirlooms won’t keep as long as the hybrid varieties.
Plum Tomatoes, also called Romas, have a tangy, savory taste. They are egg-shaped and can’t stand up straight. Commonly used in making sauce, stewing, and drying because of fewer seeds and lower water content.
Slicing Tomatoes are great for a lot of things, but their large size and uniform shape do lend themselves well to being sliced and added to sandwiches.
Green Tomatoes: During the summer, you will sometimes get green colored tomatoes; these are in fact fully ripe, and their color is green. However, at the very end of the season, you will receive true green – unripe – tomatoes. When it starts to get cold, we pick all the tomatoes off the plants. One last hurrah before the plants call it quits. Fortunately, you can eat tomatoes green – fried green tomatoes are what most people think of – or you can let them sit on your counter and ripen.
To store: Do not refrigerate tomatoes; cold temperatures deplete their flavor & texture. Store at room temperature out of the sun. Tomatoes will continue to ripen once they’re picked, so don’t let them sit too long, a week at most.
Best Uses: Oven-roasted, Soup, Pizza sauce, Ratatouille, Pasta sauce/Marinara, BLTs, Fried green tomatoes, Scalloped or Baked, Stuffed, Salsa, Salads (like Caprese), Sandwiches, Tomato pie/quiche, Bruschetta, Pizza or flat breads, Grilling/Broiling, Gazpacho, Juice, and more!
Note: avoid cooking in aluminum or iron pots because tomatoes react with those substances, giving the dish a metallic taste.
Substitutes: Tomatillos, peaches, nectarines, pineapple
Preparing:
For Raw Eating: Cut out the core in large tomatoes and any damaged spots. Slice into desired size pieces for use.
For Cooking: Cut out the core. Peel the tomato by cutting out a small “x” on the non-stem end. Drop it into boiling water about 45 seconds until the skin begins to loosen. Remove and plunge into a bowl of ice water. Remove the skin. Then seed the tomato.
Oven-Dried Tomatoes:
Heat oven to 225 F. Place tomato halves cut-side-down (with watery seeds removed) on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. (Drizzle with olive oil, salt, and herbs if desired).
Place in oven and bake for 2 hours. Rotate pans and continue cooking until desired degree of doneness. If you want to use them immediately stop after 2 hours. They’re ready when they are shriveled slightly. To store for longer-term, dry them 5-6 hours, until they turn darker in color and dry. Then place in freezer bag and freeze.
To Freeze: two options
- Throw them right into a labeled freezer-safe bag whole and freeze them as-is! When you’re ready to cook, let the tomatoes thaw, and the skins will come right off. Remove the skins before cooking.
- If you want to skin the tomatoes before you freeze, bring a pot of water to a boil, drop the tomatoes into the pot for about a minute until the skins begin to crack. Remove and plunge into a ice water bath for one minute. Pull the cracking skins off. Chop the tomatoes into desired size or freeze whole in Ziplock bags.
